


Behind that Mask

by IngeniousWaterfowl



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: Gen, Gore, Psychological Horror
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-13
Updated: 2020-11-13
Packaged: 2021-03-09 23:07:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,186
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27534259
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IngeniousWaterfowl/pseuds/IngeniousWaterfowl
Summary: "He's more machine now than man, twisted and evil."..."There is still good in him."
Relationships: Padmé Amidala/Anakin Skywalker
Kudos: 14





	Behind that Mask

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this purely on impulse and sugar, plz help.  
> This is a sort of narrative of Anakin as he becomes Darth Vader. It’s a bit of a new writing style, so it might not be as good as other stuff I'll post later.  
> WARNING: THIS WORK CONTAINS GRAPHIC DEPICTIONS OF GORE AND HORROR.

The burning man was in pain, the aching stubs of his limbs straining to find purchase on the rocks that burned like coals. White hot pain consumed his senses, and the anger remained. The anger simmered as rocks shifted, his clawed metal hand scraping uselessly. He couldn’t move, he couldn’t get away from the lava. Farther up the hill stood the man with a sword of light. 

Manipulator, Villain, Betrayer.

~~MASTER~~

The Betrayer was shouting. Spewing the words of an old prophecy before turning around. Walking away from the burning man, leaving him for dead. Revulsion heated the burning man’s stomach, nearly as hot as the fire that scorched him. He roared the words that slammed down like a wall between the two men.

“I HATE YOU!”

The Betrayer stumbled, as though he’d been physically shoved. Then he lifted his head, tears lining his eyes.

“You were my brother Anakin, I loved you.”

Anakin, that was the burning man’s name. That was what he had been called. The fire crept closer, the heat singing his already tender flesh. He lifted his head, to call out to the Betrayer. For that man had once been Obi-Wan, his friend and brother. The words formed on his lips, then the fire reached him.

Pain seared through him, melting his skin and exploding in his blood. His bones turned to liquid marrow as scream after scream escaped his raw throat. Blood and spittle coated his mouth, the metallic tang unforgettable as the plea spilled with the blood onto the ground. But the Betrayer looked away as fire consumed the burning man. As his skin blistered and popped, tearing his body apart. He was left alone, he would die alone.

But HE came, HE saved the burning man. HE was old and pale, his yellow eyes sunk deep in his skull. HE was the burning man’s Master now. 

The metal was cold, it hurt. They put the metal in his gaping chest and blistered flesh. He wailed in pain, but no one seemed to care. Darkness surrounded him and he shrieked a name into the void. The metal saved him, it preserved his horribly scarred body like a fossil in amber. 

A voice spoke, it was HIS voice.

Savior, Sith, Master.

HE was saying something, calling the burning man by a name different than the one the Betrayer had given him. The burning man responded, his voice robotic and raspy. But he remembered, he remembered her.

Wife, Lover, Angel.

“Where is Padmé?” The burning man named the woman and the air stilled. As though holding its breath in anticipation. “Is she safe?” HE made no response, instead looking down. “Is she all right?” Fear took the place of rage in his heart, his body turning cold.

HE spoke, but what HE said was wrong. She wasn’t dead, the burning man hadn’t killed her. He couldn’t have. He reached out, feeling, searching for her. Her warmth, her life. It was gone, as if it had simply vanished. She had been alive, he’d felt her! He bellowed behind his armored shell, tugging at his restraints.

~~Wife, Lover, Angel~~

GONE

Everything held him, everything chained him down. He hadn’t saved her, those words bound him to his despair. With a final raw scream, he stripped away his bonds and his power tore through the room. That deathly, horrible power that had killed her.

He fell down into the darkness, into the shredded hole that had once held his heart. He lay there, his cries never making it past the mask. The burning man surrendered, he gave his body over to another.

~~Anakin~~

Vader

Vader took the place of Anakin Skywalker. He was the machine, the broken man, 

The dead man.

The dead man walked as no man should. He walked by his Master, the mechanical limbs pumping and moving as any normal man's would. He carried out his Master’s tasks, he did the duties of a Lord.

But the burning man stayed away. He allowed the dead man to take over, to control his body and actions. He stayed in the dark, gladly forgotten or shunned by the dead man. The dead man was cold and hard, he had no need for the burning man’s pathetic cries anymore. 

The burning man liked the dark, it was cool and calm. Surrounding him like a blanket, sheltering him from the ceaseless pain. For years he stayed there, for years the galaxy presumed him dead. The burning man was happily in a state of sleep, drifting between here and there. Before and now, forgetting himself.

Until one day, when something sprang to life in his chest. He sensed a familiar power and the burning man’s eyes shot open. He saw and felt through the dead man only briefly before he was shoved back, but it was enough. The bond reopened and began to fill the void, he cried in pain and joy.

Friend, padawan, sister.

From that moment he was present in the dead man’s mind. He could feel the dead man struggling to push him back but he would not yield. He was still silenced, he could still do nothing. But he was awake, and when he was awake he felt pain.

He felt the pain of his body and the pain of his heart. The pain stopped him from remembering. He didn’t know who she was, only that he had known her. And she had known him. It was weeks, months, before he felt her again. This time she was there, she was right there.

She called out to the dead man, saying he had killed the burning man; her Master. The burning man cried for the dead man to release him. To let him see this girl, let him remember her. The dead man did not give in, instead he unsheathed his sword of red and the girl countered with blades of white. The dead man fought the girl, and he seemed triumphant. But she raced behind him, her swords of pure light slashing across the dead man’s face.

Clarity and pain struck the burning man harder and more violently than he’d ever experienced as the dead man withdrew. His mechanical limbs buckled, for the burning man was now in control of his body. Amidst the blinding certainty and agony, a name came to him.

_“Ahsoka,”_ He felt her freeze, the burning man gasped through his mechanical lungs. He spoke her name again, if only to convince himself it was real as he swung his head toward her. He could see, one of his eyes freed from the red visor. She was older, but somehow still the same.

“Anakin.” The way she said the burning man’s name made him freeze. For he remembered everything now, he remembered her leaving him. He remembered the pain she had caused him, he remembered her betrayal. He stood unsteadily, torn between his anger and his love. She cried out, telling him she wouldn’t abandon him again.

~~Friend, padawan, sister~~

LIAR

He looked away, his heart breaking yet again as the memories swamped his head. It hurt too much; he retreated into the darkness and the dead man took over once again. Kill her, the dead man was going to kill her. No, no that wasn’t what he wanted! He screamed and shoved against the darkness, trying to force his way back to consciousness. The burning man wailed into the void, fearing the worst. 

He lapsed into sleep again, willing the darkness to erase his shame. Only a few years later, he was again awoken. The Betrayer, he was here. The burning man gladly gave control to the dead man, for his hatred was strong. The Betrayer was old now, and there was an aura of sorrow surrounding him. Weak and helpless, just as the burning man had always wished. He shoved down the lingering feeling of guilt, the Betrayer had left him. He’d left him for dead.

The old man could still fight, but not for long. Victory was near and the burning man was laughing, then the Betrayer disappeared. He vanished before the red saber had even touched him, as though he’d simply been a mirage. A scream sounded, and the burning man saw a young man shouting for the Betrayer. That boy, there was something about that boy.

HE contacted the dead man shortly after, telling him that the young boy was training to be a Jedi. The boy was Skywalker’s son, the burning man’s son. Cold disbelief filled the dead man while the burning man cried for answers. It was true, it was true! The son of his Angel, his son.

The burning man tried to wrest control back, but the dead man had grown too strong. The burning man kept some control and he convinced HIM that they should turn the boy. When he saw his son again, he was able to lessen the dead man’s attacks. But it wasn’t enough, the dead man cut off his son’s hand. The burning man cried out and managed to seize control from the dead man. It was temporary, but long enough to tell the boy:

“I am your father!”

The young man denied it and cursed his name. The dead man took back control, the burning man let him. His son, _his own son_ , had cursed his name. The familiar agony returned and he sank into a near senseless state, but not enough for the dead man to retain complete control. He wouldn’t let the dead man kill the boy as he’d killed the girl.

When they met again, it was on the boy’s terms. He used the same name the girl had and the burning man lashed out. The name brought back too much anguish, too much suffering. He was already in pain, he didn’t need more. They boy believed, he believed that the burning man had control. The burning man felt the betrayal as clearly as if he’d been stabbed when the dead man took his son to HIM.

HE goaded his son. HE taunted the boy’s compassion, and the dead man reveled in it.

The boy attacked, fighting the dead man as the burning man’s numbness fueled the rage of the dead man. The boy was untrained, he let his thoughts betray him. Sister, he had a sister. The burning man had a daughter. His Angel lived on through their daughter. It snapped something in him, and in his son as well. The burning man roared against the darkness. The boy struck again and again until the dead man was overpowered. A piece of the metal armor was cut off, leaving a chink in the wall around the burning man’s heart.

His son tossed away the weapon, he would not give in to anger. He was like his father, a Jedi. The burning man became numb with shock, his son believed in him. HE laughed, scolding the boy for his foolishness. HE attacked the boy, bright and crackling lightning shooting from HIS fingers. The dead man stood and moved beside his Master. Agony filled the boy and the burning man could only stare. 

Pain so much like his own now tormented his son. The lightning was like fire, scorching the skin and attacking the nerves. Scarring the soul, the face and the heart. The boy would die, his son would die.

His son, hope, joy.

Luke

“Father, please!” His son, his son was screaming for him. Luke was screaming for his father, as the burning man had screamed on the hill.

~~Manipulator, Villain, Betrayer~~

Obi-Wan

“No,” the low growl pushed out of the burning man’s throat as he attacked the dead man. The delusion of power and hate that was the dead man shredded as easily as paper.

~~Savior, Sith, Master~~

ENEMY

The dead man was gone, there was nothing separating the burning man from Luke. No, not the burning man.

Anakin

“NOOO!” He lunged for the enemy and the enemy shrieked as Anakin lifted him up. Lightning coursed through him as the fire had, but it would not stop him. With a last roar, he threw the enemy down the shaft. The enemy’s cries turned distant and were soon no more.

The mechanical body that had supported Anakin was failing. His son grabbed him, pulling him away. Trying as Anakin had all those years ago, to stop death. Luke was weak, both of them wouldn't make it out alive.

Anakin had only one last request as Luke pleaded with him: “Let me look on you with my own eyes.”

Once the helmet was removed, Anakin felt his strength failing. But he saw his son, he saw his son with his own eyes as Anakin Skywalker. Luke had saved him.

“You were right about me. Tell your sister...you were right.”

Luke called after him as Anakin faded, screaming into the darkness that Anakin now welcomed without pain.

Obi-Wan: Mentor, Friend, Brother. 

Padmé: Wife, Lover, Angel. 

They were there, they had waited for him. Crying with joy, Anakin laughed as he was reunited with them. Peace, finally he was at peace.

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: This was extra, edgy, and dark as heck! Evidently I just love making dark and tragic stuff with the occasional happy ending. ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯ Feel free to review or do whatever with this!


End file.
